Harvey is a mentor to me and the person who hunted me down in my post-law school life in San Francisco to bring me to FIRE way back in 2001. Harvey has been doing criminal defense and free-speech-on-campus work for decades now and is one of the foremost advocates for reforming the criminal justice system. His latest book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent, discusses the explosion of federal criminal laws that are becoming increasingly broad and vague.

In the interview, Harvey touches on his alma mater, Harvard, his work, and what “liberal” means. Harvey continues to serve FIRE and promote students’ rights as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

You can say things in Harvard Square that you can’t say in Harvard Yard. So goes the mantra with which Harvey Silverglate chose to open up his Forbes online review of FIRE President Greg Lukianoff’s book, Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate. But as the FIRE co-founder and current chairman of the board of directors points out, Greg’s book demonstrates that “we are entering an era of our own creation where the anti-liberty culture in Harvard Yard (part of the university) is dictating a similarly unfree culture in Harvard Square (part of the City of Cambridge).”

Harvey’s Forbes.com review charts the unfortunate and dangerous trend on college campuses that finds students and faculty members subject to repressive policies and programs. But Harvey goes further, pointing out that the long-term effects of campus censorship are so perverse and pervasive that no institution is safe from its consequences, not even the judicial branch of the United States government:

Students, who get accustomed to the administrative tyranny that marks the vast majority of colleges, universities and graduate schools today, don’t have much adjusting to do when they gain, and abuse, real power of their own in the nation at large, including in its legislative chambers, executive offices, and courts.

Be sure to check out Harvey’s excellent review to dig deeper into how the lessons of campus censorship meander their way off campus and into our society at large. And don’t forget to get yourself a copy of Unlearning Liberty, which is available in hardcover, e-reader, and audio formats.